Unit 3 Blog Post

Perhaps what I have learned going through the unit is that I am a bit more lenient regarding grammatical rules, and that the minimum grammatical structure is enough for the purpose of the training that I conduct with the learners (essential skills training for Sewing Machine Operators).  I believe that getting caught up on the fine rules and concepts when it comes to grammar just makes it more difficult for English learners to communicate and become more comfortable with their pronunciation.  One of the barriers that I often notice with my learners is the lack of self-confidence.  The lack of self-confidence often leads them to conclude that "[their] English is not good."  The sentence would often be repeated many times because learners are not confident with their ability to communicate despite being able to form sentences that are coherent and can be understood. When language learners do not build up their confidence, they often become shy and resistant to engaging in conversations with others (especially those with higher language skills).  This is often a problem in the workplace, since they would need to communicate with a wide range of people (supervisors, co-workers, etc.).  Therefore, may be understood and studied to the point wherein it can assist the learner in putting together coherent sentences that could facilitate effective communication.

Perhaps one of the biggest topics that I could foresee as being important would be verb tenses, adjectives, and the use of nouns (possessive, etc.).  Since I am considering the topic of employment (which is my lens of understanding), I would be concentrating on grammatical structures that may be essential when communicating with the learners (and vice versa).  Being able to describe the type of help that they need, or what they have done or want to do so far, and what they know is fairly important when discussing their employment development plan or training.  These grammatical structures are also fairly important when it comes to communicating in the workplace, since they would need to describe products or difficulties they may have while working, any clarification regarding the work, or what they have done or what they need to do during the work  day.  It is important to understand the basics of grammar to form sentences, but more advanced points of grammar (adverbials, etc.) would not be necessary for the language learner to know in order to be able to communicate verbally or in written form.

I think that I would be more cognizant of grammar and its overall role in language development and pattern recognition (grammatical rules and exceptions), but I would also remind myself that not knowing more advanced grammatical points would not prevent the language user to effectively communicate.